Prasanth Thankappan and Rajith Nair founders of Inntot Technologies deserves tons of credit for making inroads into a domain monopolised by big companies. They are providing a cost effective DRM solution based on the concept of Software Defined Radio. Let us hear from Prasanth about their startup, the challenges and opportunities that lies ahead for them.
Give a brief info about your startup?
Inntot Technologies was founded in 2014 by Rajith Nair and myself Prasanth Thankappan. Inntot is a technology driven company with focus on IP solutions and services for Digital Radio, Digital TV/Set-Top Box, Media Streaming, Automotive Infotainment segments.
What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?
Current Digital Radio Receiver (DRM) solutions in market require dedicated chips to perform complex operations like demodulation in hardware and hence end solution becomes costlier due to high chip costs. Such high costs prevent swift penetration into emerging and high-volume markets like India where the usage of DRM Technology is mandated by Government
Inntot provides a very cost-effective solution based on the concept of Software Defined Radio. Inntot solution can run on processors such as ARM and this will reduce the product cost significantly.
Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?
We had around 14 years of experience in the industry when we started Inntot. Rajith started his career with Philips, then later worked in LSI Logic and Wipro. I worked with Wipro for most of my career.
Where is your startup based out of? Why do you think that is the best place for you?
Inntot is based out of Infopark, Kochi, Kerala. We have received enormous support from the government organizations like KSUM (Kerala Startup Mission), KFC (Kerala Financial Corporation) throughout our journey.
As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?
During the initial days (since the company formation and deal closure with alpha customer), primary challenges were about procuring the alpha customer, development of prototype, funding for the same, putting up the right team for the prototype.
Who are your competitions and how are you better than them?
Our main competitors are global semiconductor companies providing DRM solutions. As Inntot’s DRM solution is SDR (Software Defined Radio) based, it is cost effective.
How hard is it to have a work-life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?
During the initial days of company formation, work-life balance was hardly there and most of the time was spent for the company related activities. However, once things started getting in place, work-life balance was slowly achieved.
Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If no then please tell us if you’re looking to raise?
Yes, Inntot has raised pre-series funding from Unicorn India Ventures.
What’s the biggest misconception people have about you? Why do they have that? What’s the reality?
The domain where Inntot is operating is generally monopolized by big companies. It is believed that it is difficult to work and achieve results in this domain due to the nitty-gritties and complexities involved.
Reality is that with an experienced, talented and passionate team, such results could be achieved with lot of hard work.
What gets you excited about this company?
The very sense of attempting a big thing, becoming part of the next big thing in broadcast communication, working for premium Tier-1 customers from a small company in a small city like Kochi, day to day challenges in running the company – all keeps us excited.
Tell us how a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from the time you get up till you hit the bed at night.
- Morning time: Checking customer emails and requests. Planning and prioritizing the important activities for the day.
- Afternoon time: Meeting each and every team member regarding his/her plan and understanding the updates, bottle necks and next set of actions.
- Evening time: Update “TO DO” list and plan for next set of activities
Tell us about your team and how did you meet each other?
Regarding the founding team, we worked together in the same team in Wipro for about 6 years before starting Inntot.
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